Garibaldi Lake is a popular destination for backpackers and day hikers alike, for good reason! This huge blue lake with towering mountains covered in glaciers at the back is certainly a sight to see. It is a popular base to complete other hikes in the area or a stop on a multiday trip. One thing is for sure, you will certainly be sharing the trail and the campground at Garibaldi Lake.
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How To Reserve A Spot At Garibaldi Lake Campground
It is important to reserve a camping spot at Garibaldi Lake as soon as you decide it is somewhere you want to go. Reservations can be made up to four months in advance and I would recommend being online first thing in the morning, four months in advance to secure your spot at this very popular backcountry spot. The best way to reserve is through the online BC Parks Camping system.
The Garibaldi Lake campground is one of the few spots I’ve backcountry camped where you are expected to print out your reservation and hang it on the post. So once you’ve reserved your spot, make sure to print out the confirmation and bring it with you. This was our first time backcountry camping in the area and this was new to us, usually I just carry my permit on my phone.
Where Is The Trailhead
The trailhead for the Garibaldi Lake backcountry campground is known as the Rubble Creek trailhead. It is located just over 35 kilometres north of Squamish, along Highway 99 or 28 kilometres south of Whistler. Look out for the turning onto Daisy Lake road, it is signposted on the highway as Garibaldi Lake and Black Tusk on BC Parks signs, so look out for those to make sure you don’t miss the turn.
What You Need To Know About The Garibaldi Lake Campground And How To Get There
The hike to the Garibaldi Lake campground is no walk in the park, it’s quite long and gains a lot of elevation, it’ll take more time than you expect most likely, especially carrying a heavy overnight pack. The other drawback is that most of the hike to the campground is in the forest, offering little in the way of views. The jem of this trip, really is the destination.
Distance: 9km one way
Elevation: 860m gain
For the most part, the hike in to the Garibaldi Lake campground involves lots of switchbacks which reduces the steepness of the trail and once you get to the junction where the main trail splits in two directions, one towards Garibaldi Lake and the other towards Taylor Meadows, which is home to another backcountry campground. Once reaching this junction, the views start to open up a bit more, with small blue lakes before one last forest stretch before descending down to Garibaldi Lake.
Cross the outlet of the lake via a bridge and follow the rocky trail to the end of the lake, there are numerous entrances to the camping spots, spread along the main shoreline trail. The shelters offer good spots to head into the forest and find a site.
Most of the sites we saw were on wooden raised platforms, some are right on the main trail while others, like the one we ended up at, was a short, steep walk up the hill but offered a little more privacy.
There are 50 individual sites at the Garibaldi Lake campground with four shelters. These shelters offer refuge from the weather with benches inside to cook on. Food storage is via bear poles, so you’ll want to be prepared to hang your food. Besides two of the shelters there are also outside picnic benches offering extra room to cook on better weather days. Four drop toilets are spread around the site as well, make sure to bring your own toilet paper.
There are a number of small bench seats which line the lakes edge and also along the back side of the battleship islands. These are a perfect spot to enjoy watching the sun set or just try to escape the crowds and sit and have a moment of peace.
Things To Do From The Garibaldi Lake Campground
We stayed at Garibaldi Lake campground to use it as a base to day hike to Panorama Ridge, maybe complete the long hike to the ridge in a day, however we wanted to enjoy it and take our time. By camping it also meant we were lucky enough to Panorama Ridge to ourselves for twenty minutes timing it between the sunrise seekers leaving and day hikers arriving. We stayed two nights at Garibaldi lake and completed the hike to Panorama Ridge in the middle day, however it would be doable to hike the ridge either after getting to camp on day one or before leaving camp on day 2.
Besides the famed Panorama Ridge trail, you can also take the steep climb up to the Black Tusk lookout and get a more up close view of this unique mountain as well as the surrounding mountains.
For those looking for a multi day backpacking trip, you can also camp at Garibaldi Lake and then hike over to Cheakamus Lake where there is another backcountry campground. This would require a car shuttle but also takes in two gorgeous blue alpine lakes, so for many it is worthwhile.
Items You Might Need
If you want to hike to Garibaldi Lake, you’ll want some comfortable hiking boots. I wore my favourite, La Sportiva Raptor 2 boots. These waterproof, lightweight and comfortable boots are perfect for long days on the trail.
You’ll want to make sure you have a waterproof bag to hang your scented items on the bear poles at camp. We use the Sea To Summit bags and find a 20 litre bag more than adequate to hold all our scented items, including our pot set.
We took our ever faithful Marmot Tungsten 2 man tent to sleep in. It’s the perfect size for the two of us, waterproof and durable. Although there are lighter tents on the market, we find this one a good compromise for weight, space and durability in the backcountry.
Overnight temperatures dropped to zero or below when we were staying at the Garibaldi Lake campground, so I packed a pair of camp slippers. I love the North Face Thermoball slippers, these are comfortable and warm, perfect to wear around camp after a long day of hiking.
You’ll also want to make sure you have bear spray and know how to use it. For such a popular trail I was surprised at how many bear encounters seem to happen on this trail.
